Fan.



L. J. WING.

PAN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10, 1909.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909.

Fig. i

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS LEVI JULIAN wine FAN.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 30 1909 Application filedFebruary 10, 1909'. Serial No. 477,109.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEVI JULIAN WING, a" citlzen of the United States,and a residentof the borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York andState of New York, have lnvented certain new and useful Improve-- mentsin Fans, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in fans generally, and inparticular, to a combined fan and turbine motor. I

Themain object of my invention is the provision of an improved device ofthis sort combining a fan or air current producer and a turbine motor,of such character that the exhaust steam from the turbine will minglewith the air current produced by the fan, so that the combined air andsteam may be used for the purpose of a forced draftdevice for boilers,etc.

A further object is to obviate to a large extent the objectionablefriction due to thethrust of the'fan while the same is in operat10n..

Another object is to provide a combined structure of the character setforth, simple and inexpensive in its construction, and Which may be usedfor a great many purposes.

' To this endthe invention comprises the features of' construction,combination of parts'and arrangement of elements herein-- after setforth.

In the drawings the invention is embodied in a concrete and preferredform but changes of construction may of course be made without'departingfrom the legitimate and intended scope of the invention.

In the said drawings: Figure 1, is a ver-' tical sectional view of acombined fan and turbine embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is an edge Viewin section of one of the vanes showing the arrangement of the bucketsand the steam nozzles Fig, 3, is. an enlarged detail view of the outerportion of one of the vanes. Fig. 4, is a broken sectional view of aslightly modified form of the invention. Fig. 5, is a broken detail viewof the end portion of the supporting shaft and the hub of the fan toillustrate more clearly the thrust bearing.

1 indicates a casing of any suitable construction, within which ismounted a plurality of vanes 2, on shaft 15, for producing or creating acurrent of air. Each vane is provided at its periphery with supportingThe buckets are shoulders 5. Mounted upon these supportlng shoulders isa circumferential bucket supporting member 6, having the buckets 7,attached thereto. These buckets are curved 'in cross section and standso that the plane of the impact surfaces 8, is substantially parallel tothe axis of rotation-of the vanes. preferably provided with angularabutting extensions 26, on their ends to stiffen and hold them properlyspaced. 7 i

The means for supplying the steam to the turbine blades'or bucketsconsists preferably of an annular ring member 9, which is applied to thecasing and has an annular steam chamber 10, to which the steam is led bya duct (not shown), which enters to the steam chamber'at one or morepoints, as desired.

The angularly disposed nozzles '12, carried by the annular steam chambermember convey the 'impelling fluid to the buckets. The annular ringmember preferably serves also as the journal supportfor the fan and forthis purpose it wouldhave a hubpart 13, carried by radial members orspokes 14, the hub supporting the journal or shaft 15, which for thepurpose of feeding lubricant to the hub 16, of the fan, would preferablybe of tubular form as shown.

An abutment or shoulder 29, is provided at the inner endof thesupporting shaft and the fan is preferably secured in place on the shaftby means of a flanged retaining nut 1'7, the flange of which is adaptedto engage the hub portion of the fan. The supporting shaft is preferablymade hollow, as shown, so as to form an oil' conduit, and the re tainingnut is preferably secured direct in the open end of'the hollow shaft soas to serve as a closure to the same. This retaining nut limits theoutward movement of the fan on the shaft and the extent of outwardmovement of the fan may therefore be adjusted by means of this nut.

-Whon in operation, the fan has a tendency to exert a powerfullongitudinal thrust on the shaft and under ordinary circumstances thisthrust would create considerable friction. To overcome thisobjectionable friction I mount a so-called thrust member on the fanwhich has a bearing 011 a stationary part carried by the shaft. Thisthrust mem ber would preferably take the form of a dust cap 3, as shown,having a threaded or adjustable connection with the hub of the fan. Theinterior of the dust cap is har OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

defied or is provided with an insert 18, of hardened material so as toprovide a frictionless bearing surface, A stationary part on the end ofthe Supporting shaft, preferably the retaining nut already referred to,has a protruding conical extension or bearing point 27, which iscentrally located w1th respect to the hub of the fan and is adapted tobe engaged by the hardened bearing surface on the interior of the dustcap; When the fan is in operation the bearing surface on the interior ofthe dust cap is in contact with the bearing point on the retaining nutand these two points therefore constitute a substantially frictionlessthrust bearing, so that the friction due tothe end thrust of the fan ispractically negligible. By thus coming in contact with the stationarybearing point on the supporting shaft, the dust cap serves to limit theinward movement of the fan on the shaft and it will be evident that byadjusting the dust cap on the hub of the fan, the inward movement of thefan may be adjusted.

In order to utilize the full force of the impelling fluid, and to causethe steam to act on the blades expansively as well as by simple impact,I find it desirable to check the escape of the steam to a certainextent. For this purpose I prefer to use an annular member 19, having asecuring flange 20, for fastening engagement with the walls of thecasing, and an offset inwardly extending portion 21, of lesser diameterthan the casing so as to form an expansion chamber 22. The exhaust steamescapes from this chamber by way of exhaust openings 23. The bucketscarried by the vanes thus rotate within the chamber 22, while the vanesthemselves rotate within the draft opening of the casing.

As it is desirable for certain purposes to humidify the air currentgenerated by' the fan, I prefer to allow the exhaust steam to comminglewith the flow of air and to accom'plish this result, the exhaustopenings for the steam would preferably be formed in the radial portion24, of the annular confining member 19. For certain other purposes,however, it is desirable that the air shall be free from moisture and insuch a case the exhaust steam would be discharged out through the wallof the casing as shown at 25 in Fig. 4'. In either case, the exhaustports or openings would be staggered with relation to the nozzles sothat the steam wnnlfl nrdne A'i'rnni' Frnm tho nnwzlaq tn of therotatable member adapted for engagement with the said stationary partfor tak-' ing up the thrust created by the vanes.-

2. 111 a fan, the combination with a casing, an expansion chamber withinsaid casing, vanes rotatably mounted in the casing,- buckets carried bythe vanes and received in the expansion chamber, and means for causing ajet or jets of impelling fluid to impinge upon the buckets aforesaid,there being exhaust ports provided in the expansion chamber,

whereby the impelling fluid after impingingupon the buckets will minglewith the air current produced by the vanes.

3. In a fan, the combination with a casing, an expansion chamber withinsaid casing, vanes rotatably mounted in the casing, buckets carried bythe vanes and received in the expansion chamber, a member. applied tothe casing and having an annular steam chamber therein, and nozzlescarried by said member for directing the impelling fluid. against thebuckets aforesaid.

4. A fan comprising in combination a casing, a rin member appliedthereto having an annu ar steam chamber, means for conducting the steamor impelling fluid to said steam chamber, a shaft supported by the saidring member, vanes rotatably mounted on' said shaft, buckets carried bysaid vanes, an annular member carried by the casing forming incombination with the walls of the casing, an exhaust or expansionchamber within which the buckets revolve, exhaust ports in the saidchamber, and nozzles on the ring member in communication with the steamchamber therein for conveying the impellin fluid to the buckets.

5. A fan comprising in combination a casing, a ring member appliedthereto having an annular steam chamber, means for conducting the steamor impelling fluid to said steam chamber, a shaft mounted in the casing,vanes rotatably mounted on said shaft, buckets carried by said vanes, anannular member carried by the casing forming in combination with thewalls of the casing, an exhaust or expansion chamber within which thebuckets revolve, exhaust ports in the said chamber, nozzles on the ringmember in communication with the steam chamber therein for conveying theimpelling fluid to the buckets, and cooperating parts carried by theshaft and the vanes respectively, and constituting a thrust bearing toreceive the thrust of the vanes while the fan is in operahon.

expansion chamber, the annular member havmg exhaust ports thereinpermitting the exhaust steam to mingle with the air current produced bythe fan.

7. In a fan, the combination with a casing, vanes 'mounted to revolvetherein, buckets carried by the vanes, a ring member applied to thecasing having an annular steam chamber, nozzles on the steam chamber inoper-' ative relation to the buckets on the vanes, an annular member inthe'casing forming in combination with the walls of the casing, anexpansion chamber, the annular member having exhaust ports thereinpermitting the exhaust steam to mingle with the air current produced bythe fan, the annular steam chamber member carrying the journal supportfor the vanes.

8. In a fan, the combination with a casing,

vanes mounted to-revolve therein, buckets carried by the vanes, a ringmember applied to the casing having an annular steam chamber, nozzles onthe steam chamber in operative relation to the buckets on the vanes,

an annular member in the casing forming in.

combination with the walls of the casing, an expansion chamber, thecasing having exhaust openings therein permitting escape of the steamfrom the expansion chamber.

5). A fan comprising in combination a casing, an expansion chamberwithin the easing, vanes rotatably mounted in the casing, bucketscarried by the vanes and received in the expansion chamber, means forcausing a jet or jets of an impelling fluid to impinge upon the bucketsaforesaid, and exhaust ports in the expansion chamber permitting escapeof the impelling fluid from the casing after its impingement upon thebuckets aforesaid.

10. In a fan, the combination with a cylindrical open-ended casing, of aring member removably applied to said casing, a supporting shaft carriedby said ring member, and a fan journaled on said shaft and disposed soas to direct a current of air through the casing, the said ring memberand fan being bodily removable rom the casing.

11. In a fan, the combination with a casing, of an annular supportingmember applied thereto, a stationary shaft carried by said annularmember, a member rotatably mounted on said shaft, vanes on said memberacting to create a thrust when the mem; ber is rotated, buckets on therotatablemember, a nozzle or nozzles for conveying an impelling fluid tothe buckets, exhaust ports adjacent the buckets for escape of theimpelto and provided with an annular steam chamber, a stationary shaftcarried by said annular member, a hub rotatably mounted on said shaft,vanes on said hub acting to create a thrust when the hub is rotated,buckets carried by the vanes, a retaining member on the shaftfor'securing the hub thereon, a cap carried by the hub engaging theretaining member for taking up the thrust of the hub, and nozzles on thering member for conveying the impelling fluid to the buckets.

13. A fan comprising in combination, a casing, a stationary shaftsupported in said casing, a hub rotatable on said shaft, vanes on thehub, buckets carried by the vanes, nozzles inactive relation tothebuckets, a stationary parton the shaft and a cap on the inner end ofthe hub en aging said stationary part for taking up the thrust of thesame.

14. In a fan, the combination with a casing, of a ring member removablyapplied thereto and provided with anannular steam chamber, a shaftsupported by said .ring member, vanes journaled to rotate on said shaft,buckets carried by said vanes, nozzles on the rin member for conductingthe impelling fluid to the buckets, and means for securing the vanesupon the shaft, the vanes and the ring member being bodily removablefrom the casing as a unit.

Si ed at the borough of Manhattan, city of bi i w York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York this 8th day of February A. D. 1909.

LEVI JULIAN WING.

-Witnesses:

,AxEL V. BEEKEN, PHIL P S. MCLEAN.

